Category Archives: Favorite Lyric Friday

For the past week I’ve been spending all day every day every damn day (pretty much) at my regular 9-5 and then following that up with volunteering at the Atlantic Film Festival. I had no idea what to expect when I signed up to volunteer, nor did I realize that I’d be volunteering so much that I wouldn’t actually get a chance to see any of the movies (a major oversight on my part).

can’t win ’em all

But that’s ok. The film festival HAS provided me with a wonderful opportunity to meet some cool people and attend some industry events and panel discussions about the music and film industry in Canada. Here’s a bit of trivia for you: did you know that a top level music video budget in Canada is in the $60k neighborhood? Percolate on that while you consider that videos such as the Backstreet Boy’s “Larger than Life” cost upwards of $2 million. Anyway, sitting among directors and artists, and listening to people who have directed videos for Moby was pretty awesome. Though I did feel like a bit of an impostor at times (more than one person asked me “So do you have a film in the festival?”) it was an overall good experience.

Do I have a film in the festival? Dude… I’m just a volunteer

But I digress. The point of all this is that I’ve been been around a lot of film industry people over the past few weeks, and this has coincided with the release of some new videos from some local artists. Needless to say, this is the type of thing that makes me excited.

I know, right!

Anyway… without further ado, it’s favorite lyric video(s) Friday, so check out these great new videos from Rich Aucoin and Jenn Grant. And have a wonderful weekend.

If you’ve checked out any local news over the past few days, you may have noticed that this week has been CRAY for Carmen Townsend. In a bad way. She had all 4 of her guitars, including her beloved Guild Starfire, stolen out of her car. WT actual F.

I have the same incredulous sentiments as Ron Weasley.

The latest development in the case is that one of the guitars has been returned, but 3 remain in the wind. (Or in a pawn shop, or on kijiji or CraigsList.) If you see anything/hear anything/know anything about the location of Carmen’s guitars, please get in touch with her or the police. You can find all you need to know about contacting her here.

Carmen & her Guild Starfire

In the meantime, I’m choosing Carmen’s “Start All Over” as my pick for Favorite Lyric Friday, specifically these words:

I’m not asking for your sympathyI’d never want you to worry for meIsn’t there some place to put away all the pain?I would really love to start all over again

I REALLY hope that these guitars make it back to Carmen, and that she can start all over again with creating and performing her excellent brand of music.

UPDATE: On Friday afternoon, Carmen’s guitars were returned safe and sound. 3 cheers for the power of social media and people doing the right thing (which, to be clear, is returning the guitars – not stealing them.)

I’m of the opinion that not ALL good music has to be really deep and thoughtful. Sometimes you just need a good pop anthem in your life, and I’m not ashamed to say that I sometimes stumble upon musicians I REALLY like via Perez Hilton. (Ok, maybe marginally ashamed.) This particular East Coaster is one such Perez-promoted success story. Her name is Kay (ey ey ey ey ey).

When I first heard this song I liked it a lot. So much so that I wished my name started with the letter K so the song would apply more to my life. (Put a choir and some clapping in a song and I’m pretty much in.) Then when I got to the part of the song where she references her Nova Scotia roots (Kay is originally from Cape Breton), I was all…

Yes. She did.

Anyway… this is the video.

I think the song is intended to be kind of silly, so some of the word choices I can take or leave. But I really enjoy the lyric(s):

It appears that this blog is just turning into a string of Favorite Lyric Fridays. It really makes me have intense respect/admiration for the people who hold down full-time jobs AND blog 5 days+ per week. HOW DO THEY DO IT?! I’ll never know.

Anyway, it’s Friday, and I do still have lots of favorite lyrics from lots of east coast artists.

My fave this week comes from PEI-raised Catherine MacLellan. MacLellan’s album “Silhouette” is nominated for ECMAs for album of the year, folk recording of the year, and solo album of the year. Not too shabby.

” I was broke and you were busted, lights come on in the dark.

Caught in the glare here is something we can’t start.

We both know what we’re feeling, but we can’t talk about that, can’t talk about that.

We both know we’ve been stealing, but we can’t talk about that, can’t talk about that.

We both know what we’re feeling, but neither of us will be stealing this love tonight.”

I’m also really loving this video and its cityscapes and country scenery. It’s very east coast.

Today’s favorite lyric comes from hilarious Haligonian Cheryl Hann. You may or may not already be aware of Metro’s “Race for Space” competition in which they actually plan on sending one lucky reader to outer space. I have no idea how this is a real contest, but it does appear to be a serious contest. (If it’s not, Metro better be ready to feel the wrath of hundreds of angry space-enthusiasts.)

Anyway, many Canadians have put their names forward to be the chosen one, but I don’t know how many of them have made a Space Rap with psychedelic graphics. So far, I’ve only seen one, and it’s pretty damn good.

Feast your eyes and ears on this:

Favorite lyrics, without a doubt:

“Get to the moon and find the Nazi base

Check the dark side of it just in case

These are my goals when it comes to space:

see the earth’s beauty, punch a Nazi’s face!”

After you watch the video, please go to this link and vote for Cheryl, repeatedly. I think you can actually vote 10 times a day or something. So do that. Vote your faces off and let’s get Cheryl into space.

YouTube really is fantastic. You can start on one great artist, and then stumble upon someone brand new and utterly delightful. Case in point – Molly Thomason – 17-year old musical over-achiever and her song “People Lie”. The title and the lyrics are pretty self-explanatory, and I kind of love the unaffected harshness of it. It’s a happy-go-lucky break-up song. Here’s a sampling:

“Wipe your eyes and crawl back in that shell The one I wrenched you out of When I realized your heart is a well And I drank, and I drank But I didn’t know how to thank you

So I drank, and I drankBut I didn’t know how to thank youSo I promised you gold, myrrh, and frankincensePromised eternal love and joy when you need it to get byBut sometimes people lie…”

17 years old, people! If Molly is any indication of what’s up-and-coming for east coast music, I think we’ll be continuing down a pretty great path.

With so many hits to chose from, their entire repertoire is rife with clever lyrics, but there is one song in particular that really speaks to my soul. Those who know me may have detected that I’m a bit Type-A. Those who really know me know that I like to be right. Always. Some may call it a quirk. Some may call it a major personality flaw. But hey, I am who I am. Ergo, this may be one of my favorite lines in a song ever.

“Hey you, you’ve been around for a whileIf you’ll admit that you were wrong then we’ll admit that we’re right”

Thanks Sloan, for verbalizing a sentiment I’ve had since I was a young child.